Film and cameras that are all in one, commonly referred to as single-use or disposable cameras, have recently become well known. Typically, the single-use camera is a simple point-and-shoot type which comprises a plastic light-tight housing with a fixed-focus taking lens, a film metering mechanism, a single blade shutter, a frame (exposure) counter, possibly a built-in electronic flash unit, and a decorative cardboard casing containing the light-tight housing and having respective openings for the taking lens, a shutter release button, a manually rotatable film advance thumbwheel, a direct see-through viewfinder, the frame counter, and a flash emission window. At the manufacturer, the light-tight housing is loaded with a 12, 24, or 36 exposure 35 mm film cartridge and substantially the entire length of the unexposed filmstrip is factory prewound from the cartridge onto a spool in the housing or simply into a roll. Then, after the photographer takes a picture, he or she manually rotates the thumbwheel to rewind the exposed frame into the cartridge. The rewinding movement of the filmstrip the equivalent of slightly more than one frame width rotates a metering sprocket to decrement the frame counter to its next lower-numbered setting. Further details of this operation are disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,366, issued Aug. 10, 1993, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,890,130, issued Dec. 26, 1989. When the maximum number of exposures available on the filmstrip are exposed and the filmstrip is completely rewound into the cartridge, the camera is given to a photofinisher who first removes the cartridge with the filmstrip from the housing to develop the negatives and then forwards the camera to the manufacturer for recycling. The manufacturer, in turn, recycles the camera by loading it with another cartridge containing a fresh roll of film and repeating the foregoing prewinding process.
There is a need recognized in the industry to prevent unauthorized recycling of single-use cameras. In this connection, prior art Jap. (Kokai) patent application No. 4-226439, published Aug. 17, 1992, discloses a single-use camera that is modified at a drive spindle of the film advance thumbwheel to only be used with a special-mating film cartridge (as contrasted to a conventional type cartridge). More specifically, the special-mating film cartridge includes a film spool rotatably supported inside the shell of the cartridge with a cylindrical drive hub end protruding from the shell. The drive hub end is uniquely configured to only be engaged by the drive spindle in order to rotate the spool. Thus, unauthorized recycling of the camera using a conventional type cartridge is prevented.
Another prior art example is the commercially available Kodak "FunSaver 35" single-use camera. In this camera, the cylindrical drive hub end of the film spool for the film cartridge has a circular array of identical end teeth or castellations intended to be engaged by a matingly shaped drive spindle of the film advance thumbwheel. Thus, the camera cannot be used with a conventional type cartridge.